Lawn tossing games played by families or groups of people are very popular. Horse shoes and lawn darts are among such lawn tossing games. However, lawn darts were banned because children on occasion were accidentally struck by the pointed end of the lawn dart and thus injured.
Several attempts have been made to provide the darts with flexible tips in lieu of the metal pointed tips to prevent injury.
For example, patents which are directed to safety lawn darts include U.S. Pat. No. 4,946,172, issued to Wong, entitled "SAFETY DART" and U.S. Pat. No. 5,067,728, issued to Dedbeh, entitled "LAWN DART WITH SAFETY FEATURE," which disclose safety darts with a flexible tip or nose. The Wong patent and the Dedbeh patent also disclose the use of slidable fins on a shaft/handle member.
Another example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,887,822, issued to Tsai, entitled "OUTDOOR GAME DART," discloses a general dart configuration. There is provided an elongated rear end portion which can serve as a handle. The front end weighted head member of the dart is described as being made of impact resistant plastic material. The interior of the head member has a weight placed therein.
A further example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,112,062, issued to Pratt, entitled "SAFETY LAWN DART," discloses a dart configuration similar to the one described by Tsai, however the fins are permitted to slide along the shaft and rotate thereabout.
I have determined that one of the biggest drawbacks with darts is that the fins (which provide aerodynamic stability) are easily damaged. Thereby, as the fins become damaged, the aerodynamic stability of the dart is compromised. As a result, the lawn darts do not accurately traverse the desired flight trajectory path when thrown. Hence, the target may be missed.
Examples of targets for tossing games include U.S. Pat. No. 715,249, issued to Dunbar, entitled "GAME APPARATUS"; U.S. Pat. No. 922,717, issued to Parker, entitled "GAME"; U.S. Pat. No. 1,072,954, issued to Junn, entitled "GAME APPARATUS"; and, U.S. Pat. No. 4,319,755, issued to Orser, Sr., entitled "TOSSING GAME." These patents disclose targets having various pocket configurations for tossing an object therein. The Dunbar patent, the Parker patent and the Junn patent also illustrate rearward elevation of the target pockets.
Another example, U.S. Pat. No. 614,094, issued to Farnum, entitled "GAME APPARATUS," illustrates a tossing game having a target made of cord arranged into a squared mesh configuration.
Other patents in the tossing game art include U.S. Pat. No. 5,098,109, issued to Wayne, entitled "PARACHUTE GAME" and U.S. Pat. No. 5,286,033, also issued to Wayne, entitled "PARACHUTE GAME AND TARGET." The Wayne patents disclose a game which includes a target and a parachute assembly which serves as the tossing object. The parachute assembly is described as having a canopy, a plurality of cords and a body portion. The canopy is described as assisting in retarding the speed of descent.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,350,103, issued to Lehmann, entitled "TOY" discloses a projectile having a barrel which houses an explosive charge and a parachute coupled to a center rod. As described, the parachute serves to retard the descent of the projectile.
While each of the above patents functions as described, none disclose a lawn tossing game which includes a safety hand-tossed projectile having a weighted safety head, a handle member and an airfoil stabilizer chute having a generally opened flattop parachute design slidably coupled to the handle member.
As will be seen more fully below, the present invention is substantially different in structure, methodology and approach from that of the prior tossing games.